Women of Umuobor village in Akaeze in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have protested continuous killings in their land following communal clashes.
The women on Tuesday lamented killings of their people in the land dispute between them and their Ogwor neighbours, Ishiagu, both in the local government.
The neighbouring communities have been at war for more than five decades over a vast fertile land known as Elueke with many lives lost and property worth billions of naira destroyed.
Recall that in 1991, Supreme Court delivered judgement in favour of Umuobor community over the land dispute.
The judgment ought to have laid the tussle to rest but killings, maiming and destructions have remained unabated.
The land dispute has taken a more dangerous dimension with more killings and destructions, forcing Governor Francis Nwifuru to declare the land a buffer zone and set up a committee to find lasting solutions to the crisis.
Last month, four persons were killed on the disputed land while harvesting crops. Three of the casualties were from Umuobor while the fourth person, a woman, came from Okue community in the council.
Angered by the killings and destructions, the Umuobor people protested on Tuesday.
They carried placards with various inscriptions and marched round the area and its environs for hours.
The protesters made up of widows, youths and women, alleged that they have lost over 100 persons in the land tussle, describing it as unacceptable.
One of them, a pregnant woman, Felicia Ajali alleged that her husband and two children were killed on the land last month when she sent them to go and harvest food for the family.
“My husband and children were my strength and they have been killed. This land dispute has affected me a lot, I am the worst hit.
“I sent my husband and my two children to go and harvest cassava for me last month and they were killed. Look at my condition as a pregnant woman, how can I survive this condition?
“I had three children and they killed two of them. I now have only one child. Ogwor people and government should obey Supreme Court judgment and leave our land for us,” she said
One of the leaders of the community, Sylvanus Ibeh explained that the Ogwor people dragged them to court and Umuobor won the matter from High Court to the apex court and wondered why Ogwor people are dragging the land with them.
He lamented that Umuobor community has lost many lives and property including schools, churches, houses and other valuables to the crisis.
